Sex assault prevention director attributes ‘misogyny and racism [to] same white, male root’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today sent a letter to Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan, the superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), demanding answers about the safety of cadets in light of disturbing remarks by the school’s sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR) director. The director, Anton Tripolskii, tweeted that “We don’t have forces who do right by survivors of intimate partner and sexual violence because we don’t have forces who don’t abuse Brown and Black people” and that “misogyny and racism grow from the same white, male root.” Sen. Cruz asked for details about the USMMA’s hiring process and whether any counseling or disciplinary action was taken with Mr. Tripolskii over his public statements.

Sen. Cruz wrote:

Federal law requires USMMA’s SAPR office to “represent the interests of any cadet at the Academy who reports being a victim of sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, even if such interests are in conflict with the interests of the Academy.” However, as referenced previously, it has recently come to light that the current director of the Academy’s SAPR office, Anton Tripolskii—who was hired in 2022 for the $142,595 salaried position—made a litany of public statements indicating gender and racial bias. Specifically, on June 6, 2020, Mr. Tripolskii tweeted: “We don’t have forces who do right by survivors of intimate partner and sexual violence because we don’t have forces who don’t abuse Brown and Black people. Same forces, same reasons. Misogyny and racism grow from the same white, male root.”

Mr. Tripolskii’s statements are troubling for obvious reasons. They are both bigoted and objectively false. It is empirically inaccurate to claim that the sole source of misogyny and racism are white males, and for cadets who happen to fall into those categories, it is difficult to see how they could believe they would be treated fairly by Mr. Tripolskii.

Read full letter here.

Background:

In addition to this letter, earlier this year, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to USMMA Superintendent Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan raising concerns about the academy’s decision to cover, and plan to move, the historical painting “Christ on the Water,” which honors mariners lost at sea during World War II. Read more HERE.

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